Aircraft flap or slat drive system with redundant drives and shaft drive lines

Abstract

An aircraft flap (or slat) drive apparatus includes first and second centralized drive units that respectively rotationally drive first and second drive lines in both wings. The first drive line includes shaft segments connected end-to-end by selectively engageable separating devices. The outboard ends of the first and second drive lines are coupled through one of the separating devices, in each wing. At least one actuator mechanism connects each flap to a respective shaft segment of the first drive line, and converts the drive line rotational motion to a flap translational motion. If a component breaks, jams, or otherwise fails, it is isolated by disengaging the two adjacent separating devices with the faulty component therebetween, so that the rest of the apparatus remains functional. Each one or both of the drive units can drive one or more or all of the flaps through the interconnected first and second drive lines.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 812,507 filed Mar. 29, 2004 and U.S. application Ser. No. 11 / 021,723 filed Dec. 22, 2004.PRIORITY CLAIM[0002]This application is based on and claims the priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of German Patent Application 103 26 799.9, filed on Jun. 13, 2003, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0003]The invention relates to an apparatus for actuating lift enhancing elements, e.g. trailing edge flaps and / or leading edge slats, on the lifting wings of an aircraft, using at least one centralized drive unit that drives at least one rotational shaft drive line, which in turn drives actuator mechanisms, that convert the rotational motion of the shaft drive line into a translational motion of the lift enhancing elements.BACKGROUND INFORMATION[0004]The lift enhancing elements, including trailing edge landing flaps and leading edge slats, provid...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is an apparatus for driving or actuating lift enhancing elements in an aircraft, such as slats and flaps, that is designed to be redundant in case of a mechanical failure. The apparatus includes a centralized drive unit and two drive lines that are mechanically connected at their ends. The apparatus also includes separating devices that allow for the individual operation of each lift enhancing element. The invention aims to provide a more efficient and lightweight solution than other systems that achieve similar redundancy. The technical effects of the invention include improved reliability and operability of the lift enhancing elements in the event of a mechanical failure, as well as reduced weight and complexity compared to other systems.

Problems solved by technology

It is a serious disadvantage with such a drive arrangement, that mechanical faults or failures of various types, e.g. a jamming of an actuator mechanism or of a lift enhancing element, or a break of a rotational shaft, can potentially lead to a local overloading of the arrangement or to undesirable and improper behavior of the apparatus, for example an asymmetrical actuation of the lift enhancing elements.

The disadvantage of such a procedure is that a single mechanical fault or failure of even a single element in the entire apparatus can lead to the complete loss of the entire functionality of the landing flap and slat system.

In the event of a localized fault, such as a jamming or a failure of one drive unit or one actuator mechanism, or a break of a shaft drive line, a partial operability of the unaffected drive arrangement continues, but a substantial loss of the apparatus functionality cannot be avoided.

Even in such an arrangement, in the event of a failure of any one of the apparatus components, a partial loss of the apparatus functionality will still arise, because at least the affected sub-system (and possibly also its symmetrical counterpart) must be shut down.

Also, due to the increased number of drives 11, and the like, such an apparatus suffers an increased complexity and increased weight in comparison to simpler systems.

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